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Julianne Moore and Annette Benning star as a couple whose lives are turned upside-down when their two kids reach out to Mark Ruffalo, the man who donated the sperm to make them, in this Sundance favorite that's out July 7. (Published Wednesday, May 30, 2012)

Updated at 11:42 AM PST on Wednesday, May 30, 2012

So the first round of national film award nominations has dropped, and our jaw along with it.

"The Kids Are All Right" leads the way with 5 nominations for the 2011 Spirit Awards, with a three-way tie for second between "Black Swan," "Greenberg" and "Rabbit Hole" with four nods each.

"The Kids Are All Right" and So Is the New Trailer

Julianne Moore and Annette Benning star as a couple whose lives are turned upside-down when their two kids reach out to Mark Ruffalo, the man who donated the sperm to make them, in this Sundance favorite that's out July 7. (Published Wednesday, May 30, 2012)

Without getting into denigrating films that shouldn't be listed below, we will say that we're surprised to see "Blue Valentine" get only one nomination. It remains our favorite film of the year, but the version that's being released is 20 minutes shorter than the cut we saw at Sundance, so maybe our memories are overly misty or it's since suffered greatly in the editing room.

And what's with "Catfish" getting shut out? Yes, it's been an unusually strong year for documentaries, but that film was as riveting, entertaining and well done as most fictional features this year. Is it possible it's being punished for the perception that the filmmakers crossed the line? Or that belief that the story was fabricated? Who knows?

"Greenberg"

Ben Stiller teams up with writer director Noah Baumbach to present the story of a navel-gazing forty-something who gets a too-good look at himself and his life while house sitting for his younger, happier, more successful brother. (Published Thursday, Mar 11, 2010)